Most of the plot arcs revolve around a lesson for House to learn in some way or another, yet (as you said) just when you think House has learnt his lesson and been enlightened ... BAM! He goes back to the way he was. I find this type of writing bizarre... If the writers have no intention (or are too afraid) of changing House at all, then why bother creating plot arcs that revolve around teaching House a lesson? I don't think that it's bad writing -- it simply reflects David Shore's outlook on life. As he said to the Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan in an interview earlier this year: I think people don’t change that much. People struggle to change, people want to change, want to become better, but that’s what life is, that struggle to achieve that. It’s tiny baby steps. We are not that much different than who we were 10 years ago. That’s what people are. The arc of House isn’t, “He changes and becomes this,” it’s about him trying to figure out who he should be and how he should live and disappointing himself and having these little milestones. So using arcs to explore these aspects of House, yet not actually having House change is Shore's MO. I wouldn't expect that to change merely because Shore doesn't believe that people change and it's his POV that will reign in the writing. That's an outlook that I can buy into, so it doesn't bug me, personally. I'm interested in the struggle. I'm interested in seeing House hit upon the revelation that he doesn't want to die -- he doesn't want Wilson to hate him -- and the small things that he does in an attempt to deal with that revelation, to me, says more about him than would a false revelation.

If the writers have no intention (or are too afraid) of changing House at all, then why bother creating plot arcs that revolve around teaching House a lesson? I would add to Namaste's excellent post that I don't necessarily think the arcs are always about teaching House a lesson. Sometimes the arcs highlight areas of difficulty we have as a society and House is the focal point of the discussion. I think the Tritter arc was about the difficulties we have as a society dealing with chronic pain because the best solutions to date involve opioids, morphine, heroine, marijuana . . . all very legitimate ways to attempt to alleviate pain, but with such enormous baggage in how we relate to them that the pain control becomes a secondary consideration and possible addiction becomes the focus. It's a huge issue for many many people--as is the desire to maintain autonomy while needing help for something that cannot be measured and therefore can be dismissed or minimized. All those threads were running through that arc and if the writers didn't end up specifying House was the kind of addicted that means he should not be on opioids, maybe that was deliberate and not dropping a plot point. I think there have been dropped plot points, but for me, not so much in terms of theme--those have been developed quite well, I think. I've never thought House was in the position of being in the show to learn lessons. Just as often, if not more often, he teaches or offers an alternative viewpoint. He's flawed, but I think David Shore thinks he also sees some things very clearly. Not his emotional entanglements so much, though even there, I think it's his communication of his feelings that he most often has his issue with. I think even the most ardent shipper must respond to good drama on this show. The problem is what they're doing with House and Cuddy is not, IMO, good drama. I don't think the most ardent shipper necessarily will, as we've discussing that the definition of "contrived" is fairly fluid among different sets of fans. There's a lot of factors that go into allowing one to enter into a plot and enjoy it or stand outside it and glare at it disapprovingly. And I thought when the arc wrapped up, the House/Cuddy exploration was done well. I had a very emotional reaction to LTEC, but the writers did what I needed to see in JTTW to understand what they were doing. That the writers could get me back on board given how strongly I felt about House's behaviour in LTEC to me means it was very good drama indeed. I exclude the crack house from this--but that wasn't enough to sink the arc.

The problem with the Tritter arc ( and most other arcs) is they get House off the hook with absurd excuses. My problem isn't that House should or shouldn't change, my point is House is always given a free ride which is unrealistic. You don't want to make the character change? Fine, at least make him pay a price. And in my opinion the Tritter arc wasn't so much about dealing with chronic pain, it was more a case of the writers realizing that they had a guy pill popping every other scene that came out looking fine. They had to somehow show there is a downside to this, prob is, the downside was 2 days of the shakes before House negotiated a vicodin supply in the detox center. You get my point? Free ride again, plus everything and everyone around him was the same as pre Tritter ... so much so that if you missed the arc and went from watching the episode before Tritter appeared to the episode after Tritter's last appearance you wouldn't notice something major has happened in between.

And in my opinion the Tritter arc wasn't so much about dealing with chronic pain, it was more a case of the writers realizing that they had a guy pill popping every other scene that came out looking fine. They had to somehow show there is a downside to this, prob is, the downside was 2 days of the shakes before House negotiated a vicodin supply in the detox center. I get your point, I just don't agree with it. I think there was far more than a guy popping pills who came out looking fine going on. I thought that House having his friends not believe his pain coming back and then having to beg for pain medication because his doctors were afraid of Tritter was huge and relevant. I thought his best friend/doctor choosing to use torture to enforce compliance with Tritter was really huge. I had no problem with House finding his own solution, because he never deviated from his position that the vicodin helped him function, rather than hindered him. I never saw anything to make me think that wasn't a valid position. The Tritter arc pushed the angst to the max, and the only part that distressed me was the lack of follow through on Wilson lying to House in Meaning and dismissing his pain and on Wilson walking out on House's OD. House's arc I had no problem with. It was the followthrough for Wilson that was problematic.

The problem with the Tritter arc ( and most other arcs) is they get House off the hook with absurd excuses. My problem isn't that House should or shouldn't change, my point is House is always given a free ride which is unrealistic. You don't want to make the character change? Fine, at least make him pay a price. Actually, when you put it like that, I think I'd be more satisfied with House facing the consequences of his actions rather than House suddenly changing himself. (though having him go through a Vicodin-free rehab for a while would have been nice, though I guess that wouldn't have been riveting TV). I was cringing when the judge revealed House would be let-off scott-free. Then I cringed a little more when it was revealed that he had been getting his Vicodin from Voldemort in rehab, and when House said "Nothing's changed". It became yet another notch in House believing that he was right, everyone else was wrong, and that he doesn't need to do anything to "fix" it. After the entire Tritter arc, I would have been happy with anything showing that the Tritter arc had affected House, even something as small as House not taking his Vicodin in front of patients. But the entire plot arc amounted to nothing. Even Cuddy saying that she "owned House's ass" amounted to nothing - She didn't make him do the excess clinic duty, lectures, etc. (well, not on-screen anyways). Everything went back to the way they were, and that's what annoys me. I don't think that it's bad writing -- it simply reflects David Shore's outlook on life. As he said to the Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan in an interview earlier this year: I think people don’t change that much. People struggle to change, people want to change, want to become better, but that’s what life is, that struggle to achieve that. It’s tiny baby steps. We are not that much different than who we were 10 years ago. That’s what people are. The arc of House isn’t, “He changes and becomes this,” it’s about him trying to figure out who he should be and how he should live and disappointing himself and having these little milestones. I think that's a rather bizarre thing for David Shore to say considering what House goes through. It's true that most people don't change greatly in a short span of time, but most people aren't faced with the struggles that House is faced with. More has happened to House in five years than what will happen to most people in 20 years. Over the span of the series, House should be improving or at least attempting to change ... after all, it's simply natural human behaviour... but he only seems to have gotten worse as a person. In season 1 and 2 he was more "human", more caring, more believable. I don't know if this is deliberate on the writers behalf, or whether they have simply forgotten that House isn't meant to be "all jerk all the time"... but if it is intentional I'd love to see exactly what has made House become so cold and uncaring in the last season-or-so. The big kicker for me was Amber's death and Wilson's speech in "Dying Changes Everything"... They both went straight for the jugular in showing House exactly what was "wrong" with his behavior and how he could fix it. Wilson didn't expect anything big of him this time around - He wanted House to be less dependant on him, not call on him late at night, not have constant alcohol binges, and Wilson himself would stop enabling it. Yet, after Wilson decided he did need House after all, once again everything has gone back to normal. From what we've seen of Wilson and House's brief scenes together, it's the same as it always was - neither man has made an effort to change their friendship for the better. Which is a shame ... because after Amber's death (and Wilson's speech) I was looking forward to how their friendship would adjust to something so major.

Wow. I think I agree with almost all of this! House: Ten Reasons Why It's So Disappointing this Season

I only disagree with number 8, because I didn't like the PI. The rest seems spot-on.

While I don’t think is fair to judge a season without seeing all the episodes, there are some valid points in that article, even if it’s just a simplification. With some I do agree whole-heartedly, with others, not so much - specifically with ‘mopey’!Wilson: I’d say this is one of the few continuity plots they are able to make sense, because he does have perfectly good and understandable reasons to be sad, but I’m quite biased. There’re problems in s5 that seems to be more serious than in the previous seasons – despite every season’s ups and downs, boring stories and overexposed characters, this one is actually surpassing my worst expectations – and what I really miss lately are the clever plots with interesting medical cases as a bridge to subtle character development – and when I say SUBTLE I mean it… But, who knows, they may be able to wrap it up all the silliness quite well at the end. For me, right now, the show is dangerously close to a bad fanfiction plot, which is a real disappointment. Though, I will wait until the last episode of the season to say if I was really losing my time watching it, or if it was actually a problem with the forest – maybe they are failing to show me the right tree, after all…

I don't agree with some of these things, but the article is interesting all the same. Seems it's not just a small coterie of the fandom who think the show has problems. And the sick-of-13 chorus is getting louder and louder, maybe one of these days, David Shore will take a break from the vision thing and listen. The one I most disagree with is #2, because I didn't mind House talking to Foreman as he did last week. I don't want House to be always acting the same, always snarking. he's better, and Hugh is better, when he's more multidimensional. I think the perception of House's heart not being in it is because he doesn't get enough time these days, what with all the personal plots.

I've been thinking about this since "The Greater Good" aired...but the biggest problem I'm having with this season is that it doesn't seem too well-planned, mainly in regards to the House/Cuddy storyline, which felt shoe-horned in. It came out of no where, and for several episodes, everything was dropped to focus on the nonrelationship. When "The Greater Good" aired, the show picked up the plot points it dropped right before the House/Cuddy fest. So the episodes in between feel like a huge waste of time. (That, and they are simultaneously assassinating Cuddy's character all the while insisting we love her.) I generally agree with that list (except mopey Wilson), but most of it is pretty minor and forgivable in the end...as long as the major things are on track. Which "The Greater Good" points to. Hopefully.

the biggest problem I'm having with this season is that it doesn't seem too well-planned, mainly in regards to the House/Cuddy storyline, which felt shoe-horned in. It came out of no where, and for several episodes, everything was dropped to focus on the nonrelationship. When "The Greater Good" aired, the show picked up the plot points it dropped right before the House/Cuddy fest. So the episodes in between feel like a huge waste of time. (That, and they are simultaneously assassinating Cuddy's character all the while insisting we love her.) Agreed, Huddy doesn't feel well-planned. The baby really got it moving, then it was 'baby? What baby? I want House.' Then suddenly, it was about her pining for a baby again. I said this on another thread but it feels like they're trying to keep Huddy interesting with every episode but all they've done is ruin Cuddy's character because she's the one who's moods have been unpredictable (starting before the foster baby so that's no excuse as far as I'm concerned.) While, I'm glad they brought up Wilson's grief again, it also came out of nowhere in "The Greater Good." Aside from seeing Amber's apartment in "The Itch" there was really no indication that he wasn't moving forward or that he was stuck in any way. I don't think he's been mopey at all. I think he's been himself, except for "The Greater Good" but even then he was only "mopey" by himself and with the POTW. He's not acting mopey around his friends and/or coworkers. There's a chance this season can pull itself together, but so far the majority of it has been a major disappointment. Oh, and I hated that PI, good riddance.